Office Open XML File Format Spec Draft Published

The move comes less than two weeks after the competing Open Document Format was approved as an international standard by the ISO, a move that supporters said would serve as a springboard for the adoption and use of ODF around the world.

It has doubled in size since its submission, and now contains more than 2,000 pages of additional documentation, including more than 160 pages devoted to documenting 356 different spreadsheet formulas alone.

"And this is just the first draft," a Microsoft spokesperson said, adding that the specification represents work from more than five months of technical committee meetings.

Weekly conference calls and in-person meetings are held every two months for three days at a time, she said.